Long-term Monitoring & Therapy

After primary treatment of well-differentiated epithelial thyroid cancers, residual disease is present in approximately one-third of patients. Consequently, long-term management must include a strategy for surveillance to detect and localize remaining cancer tissue. This typically entails periodic measurement of serum thyroglobulin and sometimes initially radioiodine scanning. Anatomic imaging procedures (sonography, CT, and MR) and functional imaging with PET scanning each have appropriate roles to play.